Hello, all! It's been a bit since I've posted. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!

So, the only Bing films my boyfriend has seen are White Christmas (yearly) and Blue Skies. To my knowledge, he's never seen a Frank film at all *gasp!*. Since both are my favorite pop singers ever, I thought it would be fun to show him one of the two films they're both in!

So, which one of these films do you prefer and why? Which is a better starter film?

High Society has that gorgeous Cole Porter music, but the plot he may find dull as he's not a classic film boy at all [Don't worry, I'm rapidly trying to convert him.]. Not a whole lot happens. Haha. This feels like Bing's film with Frank tagging along.

I feel like 'Robin' has more highs and lows plot- and music-wise, but it's more exciting and you get all of the interesting Rat Pack members. To me, there's always a slightly dingy, depressing feeling the film has for me, being the last Rat Pack film and right on the cusp of when musicals stopped being lucrative. It definitely feels like Frank's film costarring Bing.

Robin has a great Sammy Davis Jr. dance number, and I can watch Peter Falk in anything. And Dean sings a tune called Mr. Booze. But why is this movie over two hours long? Ocean's 11 had the same problem, I guess so everybody could get a chance to shine, but still.

High Society has Satchmo and Grace Kelly going for it (I went through a bit of a GK phase after seeing Rear Window in the theatre when they did those initial Hitchcock reissues). I do like the musical numbers, but not so much the business in-between, when you start thinking how you wish you were watching Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn instead.

Robin and the Seven Hoods is a great advertisement for Peter Falk's ability to steal a movie from the entire Rat Pack. He's hilarious, the rest is kind of lazy (true of all the Rat Pack movies if you ask me).

The hard thing with Bing is seeing past the easy listening music act of an old man in the 1950s and 1960s and seeing why he came off like a cool hipster when he first became a star. For me the best example of Bing's insouciance is in The Road to Morocco. "I'm marrying the princess, see. Wednesday night!" "Darn, and I'll be listening to Hobby Lobby."

“Sentimentality is when it doesn't come off—when it does, you get a true expression of life's sorrows.” —Alain-Fournier

Seems to me if he watches White Christmas yearly, High Society shouldn't be too much of a stretch for him, despite it's somewhat leisurely pace. I've actually seen it more often than The Philadelphia Story.

And if he doesn't instantly love Celeste Holm, throw him back and find someone else.

Robert has a point about High Society, Chris. The movie lumbers along between the musical interludes, but whoo, how can you pass up Sinatra and Crosby having the time of their lives on "Well Did You Evah?" And of course "True Love," "Now You Has Jazz," and "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" aren't far behind.

If you want an altogether fun film with Sinatra, though, there's always On the Town. No Crosby, but hey: Gene Kelly, Ann Miller, and a host of wonderful songs aren't bad compensation!

I like ROBIN AND THE SEVEN HOODS if only for teaching me the word "schmendrick". I definitely prefer it to HIGH SOCIETY as a picture, though the latter has better songs. Both were directed artlessly and SOCIETY is a very pale shadow of THE PHILADELPHIA STORY. And I love how Frank and Dean gave Bing his head in "Style".

On the plus side for HIGH SOCIETY - my wife and I sang "True Love" at our wedding.

ChrisStockslager wrote:Sooooo, everyone feels like both movies low-key suck? Which movie do you all feel would be a better fit for a relative newbie?

Not at all! I own video copies and the original soundtrack LPs for both. Both have their charms, but neither would be a starting point for anyone who doesn't absolutely love musicals in general or the stars involved.

Wait a minute. You're gay, and you want to introduce your lover to classic films, and you're wondering whether he'll go for HIGH SOCIETY or ROBIN AND THE SEVEN HOODS?

HIGH SOCIETY, hands down.

It's about a wedding. There is Princess Grace, at her archest. And never more beautiful. There are gowns, to ooh and aah over. The songs are by Cole Porter, a gay icon. Since you are in a relationship, you can sing along to "True Love", and you can laugh along with Bing and Frank as they camp it up to "Well, Did You Evah?" The woman who plays Grace's mother might as well have been Cyril Ritchard in drag.

George O'Brien wrote:Wait a minute. You're gay, and you want to introduce your lover to classic films, and you're wondering whether he'll go for HIGH SOCIETY or ROBIN AND THE SEVEN HOODS?

HIGH SOCIETY, hands down.

It's about a wedding. There is Princess Grace, at her archest. And never more beautiful. There are gowns, to ooh and aah over. The songs are by Cole Porter, a gay icon. Since you are in a relationship, you can sing along to "True Love", and you can laugh along with Bing and Frank as they camp it up to "Well, Did You Evah?" The woman who plays Grace's mother might as well have been Cyril Ritchard in drag.

HIGH SOCIETY, undoubtedly.

Aaaaaand, I’m sold. “Gay lover” - I like the sound of that. It sounds so sinful and quaint! >:)

Just discovered this post! You could introduce him slowly by viewing the sorta crazy finale of Frank singing (while floating in the sky) Old Man River in the finale of Till The Clouds Roll By ! In that film you have Judy,Lena Horne,Van Johnson, Angela Lansbury,Technicolor.....need I go on??? Or there is always Frank in tights in The Kissing Bandit!!!

Strictly on a musical basis, I would show PAL JOEY, while not faithful to the original play, and with it's hybrid score, nevertheless is a great showcase for some great Sinatra singing. And Kim Novak and Rita Hayworth provide some great eye candy. To show off his acting, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM has a very potent performance by old blue eyes.